Danielle Steel sweeps us from a Manhattan courtroom to the Deep South in her powerful new novelat once a behindcloseddoors look into the heart of a family and a tale of crime and punishment. SOUTHERN LIGHTS Eleven years have passed since Alexa Hamilton left the South behind fleeing the pain of her exhusbands betrayal and the cruelty of his prominent Charleston family. Now an assistant D.A. in Manhattan Alexa has finally put her demons to rest raising her daughter alone and making a name for herself as a top prosecutor taking on some of the citys toughest cases. But as Alexa prepares for her latest case the highstakes trial of accused serial killer Luke Quentin threatening letters addressed to Savannah her beautiful seventeenyearold daughter throw Alexas private life into turmoil. Certain that Quentin is behind the letters Alexa must make the toughest choice of all to send her daughter back to her exhusbands world of southern tradition and memories of betrayal. While Alexas trial builds to a climax in New York her daughter settles into southern life discovering a father and family history she barely knows. As secrets are exposed and old wounds are healed Alexa and Savannah after a season in different worlds will come together again strengthened by the challenges they have faced and changed by the mysteries they have unraveled. From the gritty chaos of Manhattans criminal court system to the seductive gentility of the South from the rage of a hardened criminal to the tender bond between a mother and a daughter Southern Lights will catch you off guard at every turn. show more